'A. brief announcement to the effect that some French farmer or ploughman has been blown up through coming into contact with buried shell occasionally reminds us that the work of clearing agricultural land of explosives is still unfinished, After the Armistice, secret ammunition dumps, ells and mines wore scattered over the greater part of the depart-danger to. agriculture of destroying or "neutralizing them was taken in hand first of all by the army and later tractors employing principally arti-fieers who had served in the artillery. Many of these men lost their Lives in this dangerous work, which was surrounded by no halo of glory, 2 Mhough it was as meritorious and ful to the country as service in the field, "So much metal was recovered that the Government m profit of Fis. 7,000,000 last from the amounts paid by contract tors, wade Since 1919, over 500,000 fons of munition and explosives of all have been removed or render-harmless, Several hundred un-_ der ground mines, fitted with detonat.. ing apparatus designed to cause a terrific explosion when touched, wore located and filled up. A big} strip of ground, covering about 76,000 acres, known as the "red zone" and including such scenes of carnage as Hébuterne, Vimy, Souchez, and Notre Dame de Loretta, has been thoroughly cleaned. Work is continuing in another zone of about 420 acres, in the neighbourhood of Newville-Saint-'Wanst, which is to be planted with trees, the soil having been rendered useless for growing crops. Another plot of 450 acres, reported us insufficiently cleared, remains to be one over a second time. The ime required to make a modern. batiletield once more fit for the peaceful purposes of agriculture mey thus be put at, about Gfteen yeu
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.